Tuesday, January 28, 2025

And Then There Was Leonard Cohen

He was a man in a maze
who loved to fight and argue with God,
who wasn’t afraid to take issue
with prohibitions and guilt
and throw it all back in his face,
as it were.
Good for him.

And there was his love of Marianne

and Tangled Up in Blue,

the one that got way,

but not really, not for good.
You have to admire

the kiss savored for decades

and sex as a sacrament

that keeps the universe

from spinning apart.
Good for him.

 

At the end,

he signed his treaty

with the Great Whatever

and asked to be dealt out of the game.

He had ponied up the lyrics

that were as fluid and sacred as wine.

Good for him.

 

At the end,

he felt the dark night pulling him,

and his songs, his priests,

his hallelujah hosts

had blessed a world with sin,

and whether he knew it or not

had said it’s alright to be who you are.

 

All I have to say about any of it

is good for him.


~William Hammett



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